1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a massaging apparatus comprising two rollers which are each rotatable about one of two mutually parallel spaced-apart roller spindles, these rollers are to be placed onto the skin of a person with their circumferential surfaces and are rotationally drivable in a given direction of rotation when the massaging apparatus with its two rollers is moved over the skin of a person in a given operating direction which extends transversely to the roller spindles. The massaging apparatus further comprises a suction chamber in the area of the two rollers, this suction chamber enclosing a suction space and comprising two transverse walls, which extend substantially perpendicularly to the roller spindles, and two longitudinal walls, which extend parallel to the roller spindles, are connected to the two transverse walls, and each has a free end adjacent the circumferential surface of a roller, this suction chamber being open in its area which faces a person's skin when the rollers are applied to the skin of a person and is connected to a pump for the transfer of air via an air-transfer connection, the pump--with the rollers applied to the skin of a person--being capable of generating a partial vacuum in the suction chamber in order to form a skin fold which is drawn into the suction chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a massaging apparatus of the type defined in the opening paragraph is known, for example, from the document U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,368. In this known massaging apparatus, the two rollers are disposed inside the suction chamber in such a manner that both the two longitudinal walls and the two transverse walls of the suction chamber extend around the rollers. This results in a comparatively large contact area with which the suction chamber is in contact with a person's skin during operation of the massaging apparatus. Due to this comparatively large contact area of the known apparatus, it is comparatively difficult to achieve a proper sealing between the skin of a person and the suction chamber. Moreover, as a result of the comparatively large contact area, comparatively large frictional forces occur between the skin of a person and the longitudinal walls and transverse walls of the suction chamber. Furthermore, due to the comparatively large contact area, the partial vacuum generated in the suction chamber gives rise to a comparatively high surface pressure between the skin of a person and the portions of the two longitudinal walls and the two transverse walls of the suction chamber which cooperate with the skin, as a result of which, comparatively large forces are required to move the massaging apparatus over the skin of a person. Due to the fact that the rollers are disposed inside the suction chamber and the longitudinal walls and the transverse walls of the suction chamber consequently extend around the rollers, the suction chamber has a comparatively large volume, as a result of which the evacuation of air from the suction chamber, by means of a pump having a given pump capacity, takes a comparatively long time in order to reach a certain desired vacuum, and the massaging apparatus also becomes comparatively bulky, while it is further necessary that the roller spindles extend through the transverse walls, which gives rise to undesired leaks and, as a consequence, air leakage problems at the suction chamber. In order to mitigate a further air leakage problem at the suction chamber the known massaging apparatus further comprises two sealing flaps which are pivotally mounted at the location of a cover wall of the suction chamber, which also enclose the two rollers, and, during operation of this massaging apparatus, engage with the circumferential surface portions of the two rollers which are remote from one another, in order to obtain a sealing inside the suction chamber. However, since the degree of soiling of the rollers increases as the operating time increases, skin particles and other contaminants settling on the circumferential surfaces of the two rollers, causing an undesirable clearance between the sealing flaps and the circumferential surfaces of the two rollers, these two sealing flaps do not provide a proper sealing. Finally, another problem of the known massaging apparatus is that in operation of the massaging apparatus, a person's skin may be caught or get pinched between the roller, which is situated at the rear in the given operating direction, and the adjacent longitudinal wall of the suction chamber.